ESSEX Police will be putting tailored policing plans in place across the county when the Men’s football World Cup gets underway next weekend.

Ahead of the kick-off, officers are urging fans to watch and behave responsibly, whether that be in one of the many venues around the county which will be showing matches or at home with family and friends.

Tailored policing plans will be in place across the county on each England matchday, scheduled to take place on Monday, November 21, Friday, November 25, and Tuesday, November 29.

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Appropriate policing plans will also be in place for each subsequent England games, as they progress through the tournament. 

A spokesman for Essex Police said: “We know football tournaments can lead to an increase in the risk of public order and that is why we plan for additional resources to be in place on matchdays. 

“However, we also know the risk does not stop at venues showing matches and sadly, that risk of incident continues into homes across the county. 

“Domestic abuse is not solely connected to football and in fact we have highly trained teams dealing with incidents 24/7 365-days-a-year, but we do know there is an increase in incidents throughout major tournaments.

“This year, Essex Police plans to lead the way when tackling domestic abuse throughout the world cup. 

“Where we are called to incidents of a domestic nature, our priority will always be the safety and wellbeing of victims.

“We will always encourage them to be supportive of police action against the perpetrator.

“But we also know that will not always be the case. Where we cannot secure an immediate charge against a perpetrator, we will proactively use the powers available to us in order to safeguard victims throughout the tournament.”

Throughout the tournament, where there is evidence that a domestic incident can be directly linked to football, officers will also compile evidence to submit to the Crown Prosecution Service which will consider asking the courts to apply a football banning order to convicted perpetrators. 

That would be in addition to any restraining orders or non-molestation orders imposed by the court. 

In order to do that, we will have to submit evidence to show a person is guilty of a “relevant offence”, which is laid out in the Football Spectators Act 1989, which includes “any assault”. 

And just as with domestic incidents, Essex Police will take robust action against anyone who gets behind the wheel of a car and drink drives. 

The Roads Policing Unit will lead our response by increasing high visibility patrols on all our roads, both strategic and rural.

In addition, there are hundreds of police officers trained to take drug wipe tests at the side of the road, to catch those drug driving.

Through the PubWatch scheme, licensed premises will be able to use the Behave or Be Banned (BOBB) initiative. This will allow them to ban any individual that uses or threatens violence in their venue. 

The duration of a ban is decided on a case-by-case basis but can often last up to two years. In serious cases, an individual may be banned for life.

If an individual is banned from one venue, they will also be banned from all other PubWatch venues in the area.

Chief Superintendent Simon Anslow, who is leading the Essex Police World Cup operation, said: “The World Cup kicks off on Sunday and we, like you, are looking forward to watching England taking part in the tournament and hopefully going one step further than they did during the Euros last year. 

“However, more than anything else we are asking the public to watch and celebrate the tournament safely. Please do not to score an own goal by using it as an excuse to commit crime. 

“We will have appropriate policing plans in place on each England matchday.

“That means officers will be in town and city centres across the county to quickly respond to emergency calls, either at venues or in homes; it means there will be more officers on the roads ready to respond to reports of drink and drug driving.

“If you do use the event to take part in disorder or commit crime, we will take action.

“We have also been in touch with licensed premises across the county and they are aware of what is expected of them throughout the next month.”